Former Deputy principal at St John’s Regional College avoids jail
A former deputy principal at St John’s Regional College who spent his weekends watching child porn and taking party drugs as a way to cope with stress has been spared jail — this is why a judge let him walk from court.
Law & Order
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A Catholic school deputy principal who spent his weekends getting high on party drugs and watching child abuse material to deal with work stress has avoided jail.
County Court judge Michael O’Connell today sentenced Quentin Paul Smith, 50, to 12 months behind bars, but released him immediately on good behaviour, saying a prison term would only “interrupt” his rehabilitation.
Smith was second-in-charge at St John’s Regional College in Dandenong when he accessed online chatrooms requesting “boys” for “hot Aussie peds” he was “hosting”.
“Pervy hung male here — he’s keen for kids,” he wrote on March 10 last year.
The County Court heard Smith accessed 156 files of child abuse material on his laptop at his Richmond home between February 2017 and March 2018.
The material depicted boys as young as six performing sexual acts with adult men, as well as bestiality.
Smith pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to access child pornography, intentionally obtaining child abuse material, producing child abuse material and possessing GHB.
Judge O’Connell said some of the videos and images was “particularly shocking and disturbing” and that the court must denounce such behaviour.
“Behaviour of the kind that you engaged in does indeed feed upon, and encourage, the abject exploitation of innocent young children,” Judge O’Connell said.
“It is well accepted that child pornography offences are not victimless crimes.”
A crisis at St John’s school in 2016 where the principal was stood down over allegations of fraud, Judge O’Connell said, had placed a heavier burden on Smith, who became stressed and turned to drugs.
“You found that GHB relaxed and disinhibited you and that methamphetamine increased your level of energy,” he said.
“You took these drugs each weekend and that provided the setting which this offending occurred.
“Whilst taking these drugs you would regularly access these zoom rooms with a group of men watching what was streamed in the rooms.”
But Judge O’Connell said Smith deserved a reduced sentence as he had co-operated with police, admitted his crimes at the earliest stage, was remorseful, had apologised, and had already undergone extensive rehabilitative treatment.
He said Smith had learnt through the treatments how to manage stress, and had “excellent” prospects of rehabilitation.
No children at the school were impacted by his crimes, and the fact he was a teacher was not an aggravating feature of his offending, Judge O’Connell said.
The court heard Smith had grown up in a strict Catholic family, graduated from St Bede’s College in Mentone before doing an Arts degree and becoming a teacher.
He taught at Euroa Secondary College and St Bede’s College before moving to St John’s Regional College.
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“Your teaching career is now over,” Judge O’Connell said.
He said Smith’s crimes were serious and warranted imprisonment, but released him on a recognisance order, a Commonwealth law provision which allows criminals to be released on good behaviour for the period of the jail term set.
He also placed him on an 18-month Community Correction Order where he must complete 200 hours of unpaid community work and continue assessment and treatment for drug abuse and sexual offending.
Smith will also be on the sex offender’s register for life.